An aerial photo from Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense shows the Chinese aircraft carrier Fujian in the Taiwan Strait on June 22, 2026. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense)
China’s newest aircraft carrier steamed through the Taiwan Strait this week for the first time since December, a transit that coincided with ongoing Taiwanese exercises and U.S.-led drills elsewhere in the Pacific.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense reported the transit Tuesday in a news release alongside a black-and-white aerial photo of the carrier.
“[Taiwan’s] military is closely monitoring the situation using joint intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance methods,” according to a translation of the news release.
The Fujian passed through the 110-mile-wide waterway, which separates Taiwan from mainland China, a day after Taiwan began five days of military drills on the island.
Beijing views Taiwan, a self-governing democracy, as a breakaway province that must be reunified with the mainland.
The drills concealed Taiwan’s “sinister intention to seek independence through force,” according to remarks Wednesday by China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhang Han in a report by the state-sponsored Global Times.
The “Immediate Combat Readiness Exercise” is part of Taiwan’s annual training regimen and includes command-and-control, logistics, battlefield maneuvering and live fire drills, according to a Sunday news release from the ministry. The exercise is set to conclude Saturday.
The U.S. and its allies are also hosting exercises in the region. Rim of the Pacific, which features about 25,000 personnel from a record 31 nations, began Wednesday around Hawaii and is slated to conclude July 31.
The U.S.-led Valiant Shield in the western Pacific, with forces from Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand, began Monday and runs through Wednesday; Resolute Dragon, a joint drill between the U.S. Marine Corps and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, began Saturday and concludes Tuesday.
The United States’ George Washington Carrier Strike Group and ships of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force sailed in formation Saturday in the Philippine Sea to make an early start to Valiant Shield, according to the Navy.
The Fujian, China’s third carrier and the second built domestically, last made the transit Dec. 16, just over a month after its commissioning on Nov. 5. It also made at least one other transit during sea trials on Sept. 12.
The conventionally powered carrier is China’s first to be capable of catapult-assisted take-offs. Its sister ships – the Liaoning and the Shandong – use ski-jump ramps. It’s also only the second carrier to feature electromagnetic catapults after the U.S. Navy’s USS Gerald R. Ford.
